Although my role is the Director of Photography and I knew this had nothing to do with deciding the content and the story. We agreed as a team we would choose the right one to go with, as we all had to look into how it would effect our roles. With me, I was looking for a story were I could tell it visually but also the most effective one which wouldn't have anything boring or slow. We wanted this documentary to be fun and exciting to watch. Below is a PowerPoint of all our previous ideas, which Jemma kindly put together.
Idea 1: Drag Kids: USA
Early into the summer, Victoria found a contributor called Desmond. He's an 11 year old Drag Queen based in New York City over in the USA. This instantly brought out an interest as we had never heard of it and doing a quick google, we found no documentaries about this topic. Drag Queens are hugely popular these days, not only as a form of entertainment and performances that we get in clubs such as Gliterbomb. But, also mainstream with RuPaul's Drag Race quickly becoming one of the most popular shows on TV. As well as this, Desmond takes part in 'Drag Queen Story time' which is where he reads to children but also teaches children about gender fluidity and allows children to learn about people who identify as different genders. Some people did argue that Desmond is cross dressing but he openly identifies as a Drag Queen. This is something really new and interesting and already I could see there being a story here to film and follow.
In regards to filming this documentary. I found that as the DOP, I would need to organise a Carnet which allows us to take filming equipment over to the USA. Not only that, we would also be required to get working visas in order to go over to the USA and film this documentary. I released very quickly as well that I wouldn't be able to recce any locations out there so I would have to do a blind set up where I turn up on location and work out all the lighting and camera angles on the day. This didn't scare me, it's something every DOP has probably had to do previously. But the idea of not being able to look at ANY of the locations did put me off a little bit. Also, if we weren't able to get a Carnet I would have to look into renting kit in the USA which could mean the codex for the cameras could be completely different, frames per seconds, etc. All this as well as the cost for everything made us decide this wasn't the best idea to go with.
Idea 2: Drag Kids: UK
Victoria and Jemma did manage to find another story which involved Children Drag Queens but was in the UK. Making it more cost effective and easier for location recces, kit hire, etc. This documentary would involve looking at the Youth of the UK within the LGBT Community and looking into how many more young people are coming out these days. Jemma and Victoria found that young Drag Queens haven't really been brought up in the Media in the UK. But before we could begin planning this documentary, 3 different formats came out and brought to the media children Drag Queens. This took away the originality from the Documentary. Victoria also found that access was very difficult and there was a lack of response from potential contributors.
Idea 3: Is LGBT Media representation accurate?
Another idea put forward for the documentary was the representation that the LGBT community gets in the media and whether or not that is accurate. Jemma wanted to focused on the fact that Bisexuals historically haven't had much media coverage and have also been laughed at rather than with. Victoria ended up finding out Drag Queen Story time is also based in the UK. Jemma imagined this documentary being presenter led and ended up finding a YouTuber called Noah Finnce. Visually, I knew I'd want archive footage to show past representation of LGBT in the media. However, this would require extensive research and also access which we weren't able to gain. We also had a huge lack of contributors.
Idea 4: Drag Queens in Education
When creating our Studio Production Steal the Style I interviews a Drag Queen called Oliver, who was an 18 year old student who used Drag as part of his A Levels for Art. From this, Jemma thought about another angle we could take with the documentary by looking into how this traditional performance and entertainment act has crossed over to the UK Education system and now helps to educate young people. This idea gave me an idea for lots of actuality within schools but also if possible having archive footage of school work supplied to us showing how Drag is being used. Our issue with this idea however was that we couldn't get any access to schools that were contacted and also, Jemma said she couldn't find a story to follow with this documentary.
We are continuing to plan through what our documentary is about. With this being the job of Jemma and Victoria, I'm dedicating my time to researching into being a DOP and also watching as much as possible to get ideas for visuals and other aspects for the documentary.
We are continuing to plan through what our documentary is about. With this being the job of Jemma and Victoria, I'm dedicating my time to researching into being a DOP and also watching as much as possible to get ideas for visuals and other aspects for the documentary.
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